Stonewall County Range Fire

Texas Forest Service crews were called out Wednesday and Thursday to help local firefighters battle a blaze that had consumed more than 14,000 acres and destroyed at least two homes.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News A grass fire threatens to cross Highway 83 north of Aspermont on Thursday afternoon.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News Crews from the Sagerton Fire Department try to keep a large grassfire from crossing Highway 83 north of Aspermont on Thursday afternoon. By 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the fire had consumed more than 14,000 acres and destroyed at least two homes.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News Crews from the Sagerton Fire Department try to keep a large grassfire from crossing Highway 83 north of Aspermont on Thursday afternoon. By 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the fire had consumed more than 14,000 acres and destroyed at least two homes.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News A heavy air tanker drops a load of fire retardant on a stand of cedar and mesquite trees near Highway 83 in Stonewall County Thursday afternoon.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News Texas Forest Service officials consult a map of Stonewall County to determine the best location to deply bulldozers and engines to fight the large grassfire. By 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the fire had consumed more than 14,000 acres and destroyed at least two vacant homes.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News The extremely dry fuel that fed the large grassfire north of Aspermont created enough intensity to generate pyrocumulus clouds. Joe Goudsward, incident meteorologist with the Texas Forest Service, said if a fire is large enough and hot enough, it can produce its' own weather system. The tops of these clouds, created by the immense updraft from the heat of the fire, were estimated to be at about 25,000 feet.

Greg Kendall-Ball/Reporter-News A column of smoke that was estimated to reach 25,000 feet could be seen from several miles south of Aspermont.